The Horsemen
by Obsidian oni
Summary: What if being a god had a time limit...an even better question is what if you were selected to become the next replacement?


You know how when you die...you normally don't have a say in the matter? That normally you live your life out till its anticlimactic ending. Well what would you have done if you were offered a chance to continue living...on one condition. You have to cast away your humanity and if a heaven exists bar yourself from its gates forever. Most people would say screw that but I guess we were a bit panicked at the time...

100 years ago, July 18 2009

Iraqi combat zone

C Company 2nd Division

Yup Iraq is where our deaths happened, Navy sailors stuck in a fucking gunfight with Hajjis in their God forsaken dessert. Don't get me wrong we killed almost all of them, but the cocksucker with the rpg is one we overlooked to say the least...So here we are bleeding out, more pissed than scared, when four armored figures, seemingly oblivious to the gunfire waltz right up to our dying carcasses. Well there were other figures but I couldn't look at them too well at the moment. I did see Kelli's body being carried off by a woman in a Greek helmet though...wait no she was still there on the ground; the half of her that fell near me was at least. I turned my attention to the guy in front of me.

"Do you know who I am boy?" he asked me from beneath the black void of his hood

"Death...I...assume. The fuckin'...scythe was...a dead giveaway."

Even dying I'm a smartass. Death chuckled at my little quip and continued

"Precisely, it's rare I'm seen by you humans dying or otherwise."

He seemed to be thinking something and walked off to speak with the other men, whom I assumed were the other horsemen of the end times. Death walked back to me a smile showing from under his hood.

"Do you wish to live? If so take my scythe...become Death...but you will no longer be allowed to set foot in God's domain as a resident..." He said setting his weapon near me.

Like I said before what the fuck would you have done? All I remember was seeing a girl in a medics uniform run over to us and then nothing...

Chapter 1

Present July 18 2109 Mt Olympus

Yup damn right I took the fuckin scythe. I was no longer really Darryl anymore...I'd become Death. Well more or less I was still being taught by the original Death but my power was absolute none the less... Turns out Lewis, Roberts and the rest of the cats with me were picked by one god or another to be their replacements. I suppose even gods get tired of their jobs. Most don't remember their old lives but I do since I'm Death; they surprisingly act the same though. It's hard to not call them by their old names. Kelli Jones had become Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. Chris Campbell became Apollo, god of fire. Lewis was War, Roberts had taken on the role of Pestilence, and Ben had taken on the role of Famine. There were others but I don't have the patience to name em'. Even though me and Campbell got along in life, As Apollo and Death we hate each other. He saw my weapon as a crude toy and thought my notion of absolute power as funny a joke as they come. That's why I keep reaping his lady friend's souls the moment he grabs one. That oughta learn him. I bet your wondering what the fuck I'm doing on Olympus right? Athena aka Kelli Jones decided I'm not strong enough to be a deity of sorts. So she wants to test me with stupid shit. Hades advised me to accept and finish the tasks to shut her up. So I grabbed my scythe that I'd transformed into a high caliber rifle, and hopped on my horse, that morphed into a motorcycle as it reared, and drove to Olympus.

This is where my life as The Grim Reaper really begins.

Death gripped his weapon and pushed open the golden gates with a frown. If only Athena remembered him he might not have to do this crap, but there wasn't much he could do at this moment despite how large he'd become as Death. As he walked the streets of Olympia he frowned at the harsh way he stood out, he wasn't the prettiest person around with spikes protruding from his back thanks to his armor and his glowing red eyes that seemed to eat away at your very being. His skin was a dark grey signifying his role as the pale rider, his wings, while hidden until use were surprisingly pure white, he was still an angel he just wasn't allowed to stay with the pretty ones, he was made for combat and he was good at it. Only a privileged few have seen his new face without his hood, he tends to keep it up unless he's in heaven where it's best to not hide anything, lest you wish to be assaulted by an overzealous Gabriel and her execution squad. Most of the gods avoided him completely. Save for one who bravely walked right up to the apparition and peered into his hood

"Can I help you sweetheart?" Death asked a bit irritated at this goddess's rudeness.

He must've said it louder than he thought because she jumped with a panicked yelp, knocking her glasses askew. She quickly fumbled with them and placed them back on the bridge of her nose.

"Uh...n-no, sorry I uh was just curious." she stammered. Death chuckled at her nervousness, and was about to say something else but Apollo interrupted. Death couldn't help but look her up and down. She was fairly attractive in the face at least; her loose fitting robe destroyed any attempt to see her figure, so he simply eyed her face till she got a little nervous.

"Artemis! Why the hell are you talking with that filth? Get away from him!" He yelled to his twin sister, giving Death a glare. Artemis was pulled on both sides; either sate her curiosity or listen to her hotheaded brother. She bowed towards Death and ran over to her brother who promptly gave Death the finger.

Death chuckled and continued on his way to the coliseum.

Athena gave him almost no warning the moment he walked inside. The gates slammed shut and four Lupine ghosts rushed him.

"Good to see you didn't back down Death. I hope you don't mind the fact that I changed our little duel to something more…gladiatorial."

Death figured she'd think too highly of herself to fight him directly. The Horseman grit his teeth containing his anger.

"Whatever lady…let's get this shit over with."

"Fight them Death, show us why you are to be feared." Poseidon called in support of the new Horseman. Death drew his scythe and grinned, he liked showing off. He sliced the first wolf in two as it lunged for him and kicked its remains away towards it's pack, the other ghosts stopped and rethought their decision to fight him and simply circled him. Death didn't have the patience to be dealing with ghosts; he simply held his gauntleted hand at the spirits and ripped what was left of their souls into his scythe.

"What the fuck is this Athena? Send me something better than this."

Athena shrugged, her chain mail rattled against her dual swords.

"Honestly Death I didn't think you'd kill them that fast..."

The goddess leaned on her spear and tapped Apollo.

"Can you take him Apollo; I'd do it but why waste the effort?"

Apollo shrugged and leapt into the ring brandishing his fire sword and sun shield.

"Then face me, boy." He jeered as the other gods cheered him on. Death tapped his scythe on his shoulder and smirked.

"Some just can't wait to die..."

Death tapped his scythe on his shoulder and smirked. Apollo rushed him and swung his sword, sending a bright wall of fire at Death. The Pale Rider sliced the flame in two and fired his devil pistol at the god. Apollo predictably blocked the tainted bullets with his shield, just as Death figured he would. Every bullet that impacted the shield, the bullets sucked some of the light from its surface, after a full clip Apollo's shield was just a hunk of rock. Apollo tossed his shield at Death with a snarl; the Pale Rider backhanded the rock shattering it with a gauntleted hand. He didn't fall for the sun gods little distraction and shot his fist forward catching him square in the chest. Death's bladed gauntlet bit deep drawing blood, Death kicked the god off of his hand and grinned.

"Come on, your almost as big a joke as the dogs."

Apollo was furious; he drew another blade of pure fire and dashed at Death. He swung the left blade and spun into a stab that Death deftly blocked and bat aside. The Horseman broke the deadlock and spun his scythe forcing Apollo to back off, Death was switching his blade from a scythe to its spear form as he flourished his attacks. Apollo was too angry to fight at his peak and was taking unnecessary damage from the Horseman's surprisingly agile attacks. Death impaled Apollo the second he let his guard down.

"Ever had your soul torn from your body, Greek?" Death rasped, the black void of his hood seemed bottomless.

As Death was powering up to take this to a whole new level Hera stepped in.

Being the Queen of the Greek gods meant she was powerful as hell and wasn't someone Death wanted to piss off just yet. She wasn't the fiercest goddess he'd met, that position went to Hecate the Norse goddess of Chaos who was closely following his slumbering ex-girlfriend Nyx the goddess of shadows.

"Enough knock it off, both of you." She said quickly obviously trying to keep her huge temper in check.

"You got lucky asshole. We'll settle this later." Apollo grunted sheathing his blades; he'd already started the healing process.

"Yeah whatever…don't be such a failure next time, retard."

Apollo shot Death a look of pure hatred before storming of in a plume of fire.

"What a dick." Death huffed under his breath as Hera walked over to him frowning.

"So, to what do we owe this...honor Death?"

Death pointed at Athena quickly and smiled.

"She bet I couldn't kill her stupid ghost puppies, and then that cockbite Apollo jumped in and it kinda' escalated. You shoulda' let me kill him." He said as he sheathed his weapons.

Hera glared at Athena who simply shot a look at Death who in turn flipped her the bird with as much conviction as he could. The goddess simply shrugged and slinked away.

"Hey, bro…c'mon...stop with the childish shit would ya? Nobody is gonna respect you if you act up like this all the fucking time." she said as she yanked his hood to face her.

Death shrugged and grinned.

"They'll respect me if I'm tearing their still beating heart out of their chest…." Death retorted with a grin.

He obviously wasn't going to listen to her. Not that she really expected him to.

"Hera, you just need to keep an eye on your gods before they wind up soulless husks." he said dryly.

"That a threat?" Hera asked glaring at him.

"It is, don't make a Horseman of the Apocalypse make good on his threats…"

It always made him laugh at how…small Hera was. She was about 5' 5" had long dark brown hair and eyes, eyes that always had this glare pasted on them. Well she looked that way on one side of her body. The other side was almost the opposite, with her hair being white and a bit longer than the left. Personally Death didn't see what Zeus was attracted to. Hera sighed; he never listened to her anyway. The Horseman made his way to Hephaestus's strip bar in the more shady area of Olympus. He'd befriended the god and his fiery wife Aphrodite almost immediately upon opening the gates the first time. Aphrodite was most likely the most attractive woman he's ever seen. With bright red hair, full rouge lips, and piercing jade green eyes, it was no wonder everyone was jealous of Hephaestus. Her body of course was her main attraction; she had literally no flaws besides her temper. The god smith on the other hand was a burly man with muscles that would scare a gorilla and a grizzled beard that made Chuck Norris's look like peach fuzz. He was scarred from head to toe from countless battles and an unknown amount of hours making weapons fit for every god on Olympus. Like usual Death had three women accompanying him; a water nymph, a gorgon, and surprisingly a harpy all bombarding him with offers of carnal pleasure. He waved them off with a slap to the ass since he was here for business, he took his seat at the bar across from the bartending god.

"Death...what's got you stomping out of the underworld this time?" Hephaestus asked sliding him a mug of whatever liver killing alcohol he'd discovered lying around his vast storerooms.

"Nothing important. It was just some bullshit with Athena and Apollo. Famine was supposed to be here already though."

Death's partners in crime we're his brothers Ben, who'd become Famine, Aj who'd taken the role of Hades, and Marvin aka Morpheus god of the shadows. He often met with Marv and Ben in the bar since it was like a second home to the deities. Marv showed up first, he made a grand scene by forming himself from the shadows of the fairy stripper on stage. She yelped when he wrapped his arms around her. She quickly smiled realizing who her assailant was and grinded into him seductively. He gave a bellowing laugh and vanished reappearing in his seat next to Death.

"How's it goin' my brotha?" he asked with a wide grin on his face.

Death shrugged, he was so used to Morpheus entering a room in such a way that he couldn't even be criticizing of his entrances at this point.

"Nothin's up at the moment as far as I'm aware, guess we'll have to wait for Ben."

Morpheus sighed and eyed some of the various women shaking their hindparts and smirked.

"Ain't much different from livin' like a human is it?"

"Nah...not at all. Shit still stinks, money is still the thing that runs the world, and women are still expected to wave their tits at a buncha dudes, not that that's a bad thing." Death responded with a swig of his drink. The Horseman winced as he felt his insides ignite.

"What the fuck Hephaestus!? Where the fuck do you brew this shit?"

The god laughed and slapped Death hard on the back.

"Brewed that acid on Venus when I first met the old lady. Shit's a killer eh?" he asked wandering over to the other side of the bar to serve drinks to a group of Sirens obviously having a bachelorette party.

Aphrodite slinked her way up to Death with a savage grin on her face.

"Well if it isn't Death himself, and Morpheus...It must be my birthday." she said pecking her friends on the cheek. She took her spot on Death's lap and glanced at her husband putting on a show for his Siren fan girl gathering.

"It's funny how they think they have a chance of scoring with him." She giggled. The action made her perky breasts bounce excitedly in the sheer black lace bra she wore.

"Where's Famine? It's rare you two beat him here."

As Death opened his mouth to respond the bar shook from an impact. Death and Morpheus quickly went outside to see if it was a fight they could finish. Hercules was brawling with none other than Famine...Ben wasn't one to brawl with anyone unless there was a serious matter or he was just that bored. Death glanced at Morpheus and shrugged.

"Should we help him?"

The god of dreams chuckled and went back to his drink.

"Nope."

Famine tossed the Demigod into a pillar and as a follow up clotheslined him through it. Hercules rolled back up and hit the Horseman with a haymaker, the blow made Famine stumble a bit but he was otherwise unfazed. He head butt him and two-pieced him, Hercules spun with the punch and swung a back fist at him, Famine ducked under the blow and sent two punches to his stomach before ending the combo with a flash kick. Hercules crashed through a marble statue of Hera, causing it to topple on top of him. He lifted the statue and swung it at Famine. The Horseman cleanly sliced the statue to dust with his katana and dashed into Hercules' guard to finish the battle of attrition but Hera stepped forward and magically slammed the two brawlers into the concrete and held them there.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?! You're wreaking the whole fucking district!" she yelled, crackling with destructive magical power.

She caught sight of her ruined statue and crushed them harder.

"That took YEARS to make!"

Hercules and Famine barely rose to a knee, the men were both grinning.

"Mother, we were simply having a friendly sparring match." Hercules explained.

"That's why we have a fucking coliseum!"

"Yeah that wasn't big enough Hera, the fight was too big for that little place. Why are you so angry anyway? You basically own the whole mountain." Famine grumbled with a shrug.

Hera sighed and released the two and walked off glaring at anyone close enough to see her. Hercules and Famine gave each other some dap and went their separate ways. Famine sat at the bar with his brothers and grinned.

"What up?"

"…Really? You wreck almost half the trade district and all you got ta' say is 'what up'?" Death asked taking another swig of his drink.

Famine nodded and took a drink off of a passing Nymph's tray. She was about to protest when she noticed it was one of the regulars and stuck her tongue out at him and slinked off. Hephaestus stomped over to the group and scooped Aphrodite up in his arms and set her on his shoulder.

"So I hear you and my daughter are getting really close Famine…" The god said with a slight grunt.

Famine scratched his head and shrugged. Despite how close they were to Hephaestus, the god was still wary when the womanizing deities were together near Pandora. The god trusted Famine the most out of the group, he was the more honest one whereas Morpheus and Death where a hell of a lot more conniving. The mention of their daughter jarred Aphrodite's memory, she tapped her husband on the top of his head with a look of concern.

"Babe…where IS Pandora?"

The godsmith opened his mouth to answer her and quickly shut it.

"Honestly…I don't know where she's gallivanting around at. She mentioned Asgard though. The woman's grown so I let her do as she pleases to an extent."

Aphrodite glared at her husband and hopped off his shoulder; she turned on her heel and stared daggers at him. The godsmith stared back at her and threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Famine, do me a solid and go find Pandora before her mother has an aneurism."

Great…Famine hated Asgard, Vikings are a group of idiots waving blades around for no good reason. The second horseman sighed and downed his drink. Death and Morpheus stood up as well. The trip to Asgard required the deities to travel through Hades' gateway; Death slapped the godsmith on his burly shoulder and walked out the strip bar with his brothers.

Pandora, burdened with the task of carrying a box filled with the sins and fears of man, was given the gift of absolute freedom. She was able to traverse between the realms at will, to come and go as she pleased without restraint. The woman chose to explore Asgard today, a realm she rarely set foot in. Lord Odin had given her one rule to abide by. She was not to touch the Ravaged Tree, it held a prisoner Odin couldn't seem to rid himself of. Pandora reluctantly accepted the terms and decided to heed his warning. She'd been allowed to wander Asgard for three centuries now, never venturing near the Ravaged Tree, but the Tree had never given her a signal that it was alive, much less that it had a prisoner inside. As the android inched near the living prison, she began to notice subtle features signifying its role as a prison. The budding flowers were in reality small gun turrets that followed Pandora's every move, waiting for her to make a move to release the captive. She didn't like the notion of her having a restriction pertaining to where she was allowed to go. She was Pandora, a demi-goddess and she'll be damned if she lets some stuffy Viking god tell her what she can and cannot do. She walked right up to the tree and let off an EMP charge shutting down the flower bud turrets. She inspected the living prison a bit more intimately. Her retinal scanners located the hidden locks scattered about the trunk of the tree. She frowned at the sheer simplicity of the security here despite how advanced the technology was in Asgard .

"All that tech in the city and THIS is what they use to hold a serious criminal?" She muttered to herself as she continued her in depth scan of the locks.

"Looks like some old Valkyrian binding spell…its centuries old…any half-wit with a gun could break this."

"I know. It's a shame isn't it?"

Pandora's right arm transformed into a .50 caliber Gatling gun and she quickly scanned the area for hostiles. She was a bit confused as her scan picked up nothing. She turned towards the tree and put two and two together.

"The prisoner…"

"Oh, we have a smart one this time. Yes the prisoner, the "bad guy"."

The voice taunted.

"Who are you? My memory banks lack the necessary data to determine your identity." She said; her arm still in its combat shape.

"….Memory banks? Ah you must be an android or something, how quaint. I would be Loki the god of …let's call it mischief." He responded with a chuckle.

"Your crime was…?"

The imprisoned god was silent for a bit obviously delegating whether or not to indulge her in her pursuit of knowledge. She heard his chains rattling as he shifted around best he could to get a bit more comfortable.

"Oh, I've done plenty of things, mostly small stuff like kill a Valkyrie or two but I think killing Balder was the icing on the cake." He explained.

His chains rattled due to what Pandora perceived as the best shrug he could muster.

"I'm assuming you felt no remorse for your crimes?"

"Not abit."

"Why?"

"Before I answer you…do you feel remorse for letting your great Greek gods trample on the mortals and kill them off simply because they can?"

Pandora didn't have an answer for that, she'd never really thought about it. It wasn't her place to wonder about what the gods did, much less how they handled their business.

"I lack the necessary data to fully answer your question, but personally, I honestly don't care about their fate. Thanks to them I have to carry this box around until I either die or open it myself."

"That doesn't seem fair to me at all. I don't think me defending myself from my enemies is grounds to be imprisoned in a tree." Loki stated calmly.

Pandora had to agree with the logic there. It didn't seem fair to her either. Pandora went over the data she'd received from Loki and frowned. It seemed to her that Odin had imprisoned his brother for defending his own life. Pandora wasn't about to allow this injustice to continue, she raised her gun and opened fire on the humming lock. The ancient lock shattered upon impact. The lock's harmonious hum ceased making the tree's hymn lose the entire alto section of its song. The android knew she'd set off an alarm when two of the decorative statues of Vikings brandishing stone blades craned their necks to stare at her.

"Threat detected…standing by for combat initiation…" Pandora muttered.

Pandora's Box held more than the sins and fears of humanity, the girl's father wasn't about to let his only daughter roam three realms without protection. Hidden on the box were small weapon stores the Demi-goddess could access if needed, this was one such time when a blade would be useful. Famine had taught her quite a bit during the War of The Elementals when she accompanied Death and Famine to Japan to help out Izanami and Izanagi. Death absolutely hates Izanagi and the two have come very close to killing each other, well Izanagi did, Death is surprisingly difficult to kill and since Japan had more than its share of unclaimed souls floating around he was well equipped to suck the life out of each one to keep his power at full. But Izanami kept him from killing him and since she had what was left of his heart he listened to her and spared the Japanese god. Had they fought now there was no doubt that Death would kill Izanagi. Izanami and Death had a strange relationship indeed, but he'd sealed off the rest of his heart having lost her to Izanagi for good. Pandora put her hand on the hilt of the sword that protruded from the side of the Box and switch her language to that of Asgard. If she didn't have to destroy the sentries she wouldn't.

"Please stand down. I'd rather not engage you in combat." She said looking between the two.

The Vikings hesitated; surprised the small woman could speak an ancient lost language.

"Do you understand the gravity of what you're trying to do child? Loki is a menace, and we have sworn to destroy anyone willing to release him. I give thee one chance to withdraw peaceably before we are forced to remove thy head from thine shoulders." The Sentry responded in a booming voice.

Pandora sighed and drew her blade; her scan of the stone sentries gave her nothing useful. She'd just have to slice them apart. Her blade gave a low hum as its servos vibrated at supersonic speed making it almost unbreakable and sharp enough to slice anything, save a god's weapon, with one slash.

"Request denied this god must be freed. I am fully aware of what I am doing. I apologize for your deaths." She said as her combat visor covered her eyes.

The Lead Sentry sighed sadly and pointed his weapon at Pandora.

"Then you must be slain to keep the peace, prepare thyself Greek."

She dashed at the Sentries and closed the distance in a blink, she slid under the leaders legs and went into a roll. After the first roll she sprung up and brought her blade unto the head of the second sentry shattering his head and cleaving him in two, she quickly cut him across the waist leaving him in four pieces the motion was defensive as well as offensive. She intercepted the Leader's blade before it slammed into her head. She lithely wrapped her body around his blade until she was standing on it, the Viking swung his blade to dislodge the girl but she had a firm grip on the blade at this point, He swung his sword at a nearby ivy covered pillar in an effort to smash her but the android was too smart for that. She flipped off of his blade and shot the remaining locks in midair.

"NO! You foolish child!"

The tree burst into flames as Loki the god of Destruction was released…A fiery blur ran through the sentry several times, each pass it made a piece of the sentry was cleanly cut away until it was a pile of rubble. The blur stopped and the flames burst into nothing revealing Loki. Pandora had to admit the god was handsome… He had porcelain skin with cascading red hair that seemed to move like fire itself; his attire was a simple pair of armored red pants it seemed his upper armor was destroyed seeing as how his muscular chest was exposed. She blushed as his cold crimson eyes locked with her own aqua eyes and he smiled.

"So…my rescuer is much better looking than I thought she'd be. As you obviously know I'm Loki the god of Destruction. I thank you for letting me free." He said running a hand through his flame-like hair.

"I'm uh…Pandora daughter of Hephaestus and Aphrodite." She stammered. Why was she nervous?

"Ah… you're a Greek demi goddess hmm? That's cute." he paused. "Ah, seems like we've attracted a bit of company. Valkyries no doubt… As much pleasure as I derive from tearing their wings off I don't have the energy for them right now."

A fiery rift appeared before the duo and he stepped through. "Come…It won't hurt. I'd pick fast, the Valkyrie are a bit overzealous around here."

As Pandora stepped forward, Famine, Morpheus, and Death caught sight of her. Famine took off toward the closing portal. "Pandora!"

The last thing the two saw of her was her turning around to catch a glimpse of her friends.

"Fuck!" yelled Famine angrily.

Death frowned and took in the extent of the damage. As he poked rubble with his scythe Famine was at a loss as to why Pandora would release a murderous Nordic god, and worse yet why she followed him. Before he could ask Death's opinion about the situation a crystal spear shot past Famine's face. The Horseman drew his katana and turned towards the assailants' direction. Death casually looked up with a look of boredom on his face at what he assumed were the investigators. If not for the anger plastered on the Valkyrie's faces they'd be attractive. The one he assumed was the leader called her spear back to her hand. The crystalline spear rematerialized in her gauntleted hand and she pointed it at Death.

"Heathen! How dare you help Loki escape! Thou shall die for this crime!"

Death sighed and shrugged, he really didn't have patience for this pushy bitch's complaints and accusations. She obviously wasn't going to believe anything he said to her let alone his claim of innocence. So rather than even attempt diplomatic solutions, he simply got angry.

"I don't know if you know who you're talking to, but some lowly VALKYRIE is NOT going threaten me. You have two choices. You can put that glass decoration away and we can talk like adults or I can tear your pretty little wings off your back and beat you to death with them." Death growled drawing his scythe. Famine put his hand to his forehead and sighed. Death's temper got them in more fights then necessary sometimes, he really needed to get a handle on it but the odds of that were slim at best.

The Valkyrie's face reddened with anger.

"Kill them BOTH!" She raged.

Death chuckled as his own black bat-like wings unfurled from under his cloak. Famine's green dragon wings were already prepped for flight as he'd already seen this coming. Death took off and collided with the first Valkyrie and sliced her arm off before impaling her head on the end of his scythe. He quickly tossed her carcass at the next warrior as an insult before he hacked the two apart from head to toe. Famine was a bit less brutal than his brother since he simply chopped off limbs and disabled the girls, rather than outright killed them. The three remaining Valkyries fell back to their leader badly shaken.

"Commander Ingrid I don't believe we can prevail against them…The one in the black robes…he reeks of death…" She said, the fear was evident on her face.

Ingrid, frowned and pat the girl on her shoulder. After seeing Death make good on his threat she couldn't risk losing more of her Valkyries.

"That's enough. You shall pay for this…if thou art not responsible for Loki's escape then thou shall burn for the murders of my kin. Lord Odin will hear about this transgression, mark my words." She said with a cold stare.

"Tell him. You act as if Death has anything to fear from Odin." He rasped, slinging the Valkyrie blood off of his blade.

Small red flowers bloomed where the blood landed. Ingrid frowned, had she realized that the two men who stood before her were the Horseman of the Apocalypse she'd have had her girls fall back. The Valkyrie landed with her remaining soldiers and removed her helmet revealing a lightly tanned face with red eyes and light blue hair. She walked to Death and knelt before him.

"My apologies Lord of Death…had I known your identity I would've never…"

Death motioned for her to rise.

"Next time don't jump to conclusions." Death walked to the slain Valkyrie's corpses and knelt next to them. He put the first girl's body back together and kissed her bare lips. Ingrid was about to protest in disgust but Famine cut her off.

"He's bringing them back for you. It looks bad but it's really the only way to pick out a specific soul." Famine explained with an emotionless face.

"So he has to…kiss them?" Ingrid asked.

"A physical, direct, connection is needed. Since he's Death he can bring back whomever he wants so long as he hasn't sent their soul to whatever underworld it belonged to. I think he personally likes kissing though."

Ingrid nodded and blushed a little at the knowledge that Death has a soft spot for kissing. It wasn't something she figured the embodiment

The first Valkyrie stirred as Death broke the kiss off. She coughed and groggily rolled on her side, she shakily rose to her feet before she fell back into Deaths arms.

"Stay down. I just brought you back from the Underworld, if you move too much; too soon you'll shatter your soul." He told her laying her back down gently.

The girl put two and two together and realized who he was and nodded weakly before she closed her eyes and fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. Death silently repeated the process of mending the broken Valkyries and bringing their souls back from the Beyond. The exhausted women still gripped their weapons in fear, but were too worn out to raise them. Death turned toward Ingrid and put his scythe away.

"I'm sorry I had to do that to them, but I won't be challenged by a Valkyrie who doesn't understand who she's dealing with." Death said as he walked up to the woman.

Ingrid nodded silently. She was embarrassed with her defeat and honestly, more than a little angry at how outclassed she was. But the woman was no coward and she lifted her head to peer into Death's hood.

"I…still need you to come with me to see Lord Odin. "

"And if I refuse?" Death asked with a savage grin.

Ingrid frowned and crossed her arms. She wasn't one of the lead Valkyrie but dammit she wasn't about to be disrespected but someone who wasn't even a god per se.

"You're coming with me Death…"

The Horseman shrugged and started walking toward Odin's castle; Famine shook his head and followed him.

"I'm going to see Odin of my own volition, so don't get uppity with me Valkyrie." Death rasped with a frown.

Ingrid didn't have a choice but to comply, Death was already more than she could handle, not to mention he was already in a foul mood. She nodded to her second in command and trotted off behind Death and Famine.

Odin's castle was enormous and far more advanced than any human society, and it showed. The castle walls were equipped with high powered pulse cannons, and cyborg sentries. Death hated this place almost as much as Olympus. All the lights, the bustling crowds, and the DWARVES… Death abhorred the Dwarven race; the dwarves had no respect for the Horsemen and treated them as blights upon society. Not that he cared, his appearance meant doom anyway. A dwarf spit at him and in response he tore his spine out and sent him to human hell. The Dwarven guards rushed him, weapons drawn until Ingrid intervened.

"Halt! You fools do not understand who you raise thy blades at. This is the Angel of Death and he's come to meet Lord Odin, stand down and allow him to pass unimpeded."

The Dwarven guard knew better than to go against the leader of the Valkyries and backed down. Death glared at the dwarves and followed along with Famine to Odin's throne room.

"Please Death, be respectful. He is our Lord and should be treated like you treat yours."

Death simply glared at her and Famine said nothing. Ingrid sighed and opened the throne room door. Odin sat on his throne looking old and imposing. Death and Famine walked to the bottom of the god's stairway and simply stared at him. A few Viking guards rose their weapons in anger.

"Kneel before Lord Odin curs!"

Death promptly raised his scythe to give the man a swift and painful death, but Odin intervened.

"Silence, know your place! He is the angel of death itself and I will NOT have you disrespect him or Famine in my presence!" Odin yelled slamming his fist on the arm of his throne.

The Vikings backed away looking like beaten dogs and silently went back to their posts.

Odin looked at Death and Famine and tapped his finger against his throne.

"I hear you released Loki, Death. I don't believe that swill for a second. You and Famine aren't stupid so I know that's a crock of shit."

Famine gave Death a look from behind his cowl and said nothing.

"The one who released Loki was a demi goddess called Pandora, but she was tricked into it by Loki himself. Pandora isn't used to the concept of deceit." Death explained.

Odin nodded slowly having recognized the girl's name. She was a flighty one so seeing her manipulated by Loki was a big shock.

"I see…Death you do realize if you don't fix this I'd have to go to war with Olympus, just on principle. But you're a pretty resourceful angel so I'm sure you'll do fine dealing with him. Would you like me to send Thor with you?"

"Only if he really wants to come, I'm sure he's got better things to do than play cops with us. We'll be going now Lord Odin."

The Grim Reaper gave Odin a nod and tapped Famine who turned with him to leave the Norse god's throne room. Ingrid quickly trotted up behind them; her crystalline armor had been repaired as was her halberd.

"I'm coming with you Death; let me rectify my earlier actions by supporting you in combat."

Death looked through her faceless mask of crystal and into her eyes; she was definitely willing to die to stop Loki. War and Pestilence were currently on Earth anyway so the extra spear WOULD help as long as its owner listened to him.

"Don't get in our way Valkyrie, we fight fast and without mercy so be mentally ready to see a soul or two fully shredded."

Ingrid nodded and bowed toward Odin who shooed her away.

"Good, take her. Maybe travelling with you will make her less of a killjoy."

Ingrid puffed herself up and frowned at Odin before turning her nose up and walking briskly away. The Valkyrie obviously had an issue or two with keeping herself calm, Death inwardly chuckled, she just became the butt of every joke for the rest of the trip. Famine was the first to speak up upon leaving Odin's techno haven, he'd bee strangely quiet during the audience to the point Death forgot he was even there.

"Darryl…what are the odds we'll have to kill Pandora?"

Death shrugged and sighed, this is one of the downsides of being one of the Horsemen, there was always the chance you'd get involved with a goddess or something and when that happened bad things tended to follow.

"I couludn't say…It's a possibility, but hopefully she realizes that Loki's manipulating her."

Famine sighed and leaned his hand on his swords hilt. Death tightened his grip on his scythe, the realization that they may have to kill Pandora, the daughter of two major Greek deities that they happen to be good friends with. It was a bad situation and honestly he wished it hadn't even happened….

Her eyes rolled back in slumber. Dreams that kept her warm all night steamed in her mind. She moaned as a drop of passion filled sweat left a shiny trail down her cheek. She could feel every touch in her dreams; all of the heat and healthful urges. What was this? To any other person it would be a pleasant dream, but to this woman, this rare woman, it meant so much more. Her peril was to find out what. With a fever her eyes shot open and her sharp black nails dug into her luscious star covered quilt. Bright streaks shot across the sky visible to anyone that walked the thin layer of earth below her. Her chest pumping and her heart digging deeper into her body she could feel every muscle burn as if acid coursed through her veins. She did not move. Frozen her hallow eyes stared into the constellations that made up her canopy searching for any clues to what this could mean. Nothing...Nothing at all…It seemed the heavens were not going to help her. After the blue blood that coursed under her thin pale skin had returned to normal she attempted to sit up. This was the first time in centuries that she had woken. Her hands quivered like an old woman's. She had grown old in her slumber. Her skin stuck to her bones like paint. She could feel her heart beat in her finger tips as if they themselves had fallen asleep. Air rushed into her lunges giving her mind a jump start. Her skin started to plump again with youth and she breathed deep. Rolling her hands over, palms facing up, she traced the lines on her right hand with the opposite. Nothing again… Every line was as it should be, now her left hand. She did not have to search for this clue. It was obvious. A slice appeared deep into her skin as if she had grabbed hold of a blade. Blood oozed from the wound. Making a fist she urged it to run faster. Holding her bloody fist above her now plump lips it dripped onto her tongue coating every taste bud. The rusty flavor excited her making her ever hungrier. Still this gash was not meant to feed her wilted belly. Reluctant to move from her bed her feet moved to the floor as a dark cloud formed underneath her. A black candle stood tall next to her bed and with one sweep of the hand it lit. With a sweep of the other droplets of crimson met the flame. It danced wildly and smoke of the burnt blood wafted into the air. Leaning over the candle she let the smoke slip like silk around her face. Her eyes drifted shut as her shoulders lifted and chest expanded taking in the thin lines of gray. Her head rolled back and the muscles in her neck stretched. She had done this so many times before but this time was pure pleasure and she wished that she could breathe deeper. A grin grew on the edges of her lips. Could it really be? Yes she was positive. It had been so long since she had seen any of her children. So long she almost doubted they would remember her. Now one of them needed her and she would not disappoint.

As Death was about to speak with Famine more about the subject, he felt a familiar twitch, a feeling he'd been suppressing for decades…Nyx was finally awake again, the goddess of night and Death had a true love between them, and quite frankly it hurt to even think about her. But Death would have to pay her a visit anyway if only to quell his almost animalistic thirst for her. Famine nudged his brother, snapping him back to reality. Death sighed and opened a portal to Morpheus' realm, if anyone could locate a female goddess it was Morpheus. Now, Morpheus was the god of sleep and dreams so he knew almost everyone's deepest obsessions, fears, and aspirations. The god was almost impossible to hide from, once he caught a whiff of a celestial being's dream he was able to locate virtually anyone aside from Nyx herself and the Horseman who are unable to dream. His realm, well NYX's realm was best described as…a high class nightclub…a VERY high class club. His club Noctis was brightly lit, giving it an almost Los Vegas look, if it weren't for the perpetual darkness and wisps of black shadows (reminiscent of Nyx no doubt) floating around this could have just been any club. Famine wasn't the most…sociable of the four brothers so he blanched at the overabundance of people stomping about the city. Death was almost as antisocial as Famine was but he was capable enough to not make himself look too…dark if that was at all possible.

"Death…do you even KNOW where Marv is? I mean the guys' got about eighty nightclubs…and those are just the ones we know about." It was obvious he was still upset about Pandora leaving with Loki, even behind his mask Death could tell a frown was most likely plastered across his face. Death sighed and took a quick look a Ingrid. She'd taken off her crystal mask and looked at the city in awe. The perpetual darkness Morpheus kept his side of the Celestial Realm was only intensified by Nxy's awakening. The lights of the clubs, casinos, strip joints, and bars only made the city look more alluring. Ingrid was positively enthralled with the entire spectacle and actually looked cute for once, in stark contrast to her normal serious demeanor.


End file.
